Seeking Advice On TV, DVD & VCR Set Up

Hi,

I had been hoping to record all my video tapes of family occasions onto my DVD, so I can throw the videos into the bin and save space within the house.

However, after looking though my DVD recorder manual it appears you can set up this arrangement but they show a TV back panel having a Audio In (L&R) and Video In connections. However, the TV (sony) I was hoping to use, is over 17 years old and doesn't have those connections on the back (or anywhere else) the only connection point is the VHF/UHF RF IN for the aerial:(. Thus would I be correct in assuming that I cannot carry out this exercise without using a more up to date TV that has those connection points?.

Or is is possible to do it with the present TV using another method?.

Thanking those in advance of their reply.

Cheers
David

I do it by plugging the old VCR directly into the DVD recorder. Works a treat. Yours should too. You can watch what is being recorded on the TV.

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Originally Posted by Gumby

I do it by plugging the old VCR directly into the DVD recorder. Works a treat. Yours should too. You can watch what is being recorded on the TV.

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Hi Gumby,

I can connect mine that way but it doesn't work. Sorry for being cheeky, but can you show me (with pictures) how you did it please?. I assume you are also using an on TV (like mine) with only the aerial connection on it?.

Thanking you in advance of your reply.

Cheers
David

It's a rough diagram but here goes....

I'm assuming you had the VCR connected to the TV in the first instance, and that the VCR was connected to the aerial.

Just replace the VCR with the DVD recorder and make sure it's working the same way. The aerial into the DVD recorder, then to the TV.

Once you have that set up, just run the RCA plugs (red/white/yellow) from the VCR into the DVD recorder, which should have extra input panels. then, switch the DVD recorder to receive the signal from the input panel where the VCR is plugged in to (e.g AV2 or AV 3etc)

your TV will still receive the picture from the DVD recorder but that picture will be the one it's getting from the VCR.

Set the tape back to the start, press play and press record on the DVD recorder. When finished, you can remove the VCR player completely.

May need a modulator, which is probably not much cheaper than a new TV with multiple AV inputs anyway, a good one is in exc ess of $150, cheapies are about $50-100 and tend to drift off frequency as they get warm.

I use my computer for this purpose. I bought a tv card (TV Anywhere) and use it to copy all my tapes to dvd for backup purposes. :U I have a couple turning tapes left to do then the vcd is redundant until I pick up some more useful tapes.
Pete

Thanks Pete, Iain & Gumby for your replies which i will take on board.

Gumby I have attached 2 images of the set up I adopted from the instructions given in the manual (also attached). Does this set up look like the one they have explained?. I can provide further images if required.

Cheers once again
David

Connection 3 is not going to happen for you, I suspect that the RF in on the DVD is purely for recording and a bypass to the TV so you can view your normal programme, still need a component output (or input on TV), you may be able to feed the DVD out to the VCR in and view via the VCR RF out to the TV.
Unfortunately they are all different and without seeing it in the flesh, so to speak, it is hard to tell what makes it tick.
Forget the modulator though, they are a real PITA and yet another little box to tune.

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Originally Posted by Metal Head

Thanks Pete, Iain & Gumby for your replies which i will take on board.

Gumby I have attached 2 images of the set up I adopted from the instructions given in the manual (also attached). Does this set up look like the one they have explained?. I can provide further images if required.

Cheers once again
David

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It's similar to what i was trying to say.

Question 1. Does the sytem work if you just have the DVD and TV hooked up? Can you record and play back ?


Question 2. Does the DVD have another set of input plugs on the front ?

Just my 2 cents worth.

If the AV out on the Video is plugged into the DVD in and the RF out on the Video is plugged into the TV it should work.

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Originally Posted by Barry_White

Just my 2 cents worth.

If the AV out on the Video is plugged into the DVD in and the RF out on the Video is plugged into the TV it should work.

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Not neccessarily, some units only have the RF as a recoding medium and a bypass so the RF goes directly to the TV front end.

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Originally Posted by Iain

Not neccessarily, some units only have the RF as a recoding medium and a bypass so the RF goes directly to the TV front end.

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Iain

I notice that it is a panasonic video. I had an old Panasonic which allowed me to record from it and watch the video on the TV through the RF. But I know Panasonic made a lot of models.

This was not a post to denigrate you, just each model varies and you just don't know what the capabilities of each unit are, our DVD recorder has no RF out but a RF bypass, it is a Phillips unit and others I saw all differed.
Bear in mind too that a lot of brand names are merely badge engineered.

David
The reality is that you need a 12 year old to do it for you. The only sure fire way:upset:
:tvh:

The way I did it was the same as Pete. I put a video capture card in my computer and copied the videos directly to DVD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Iain

This was not a post to denigrate you, just each model varies and you just don't know what the capabilities of each unit are, our DVD recorder has no RF out but a RF bypass, it is a Phillips unit and others I saw all differed.
Bear in mind too that a lot of brand names are merely badge engineered.

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Iain

No offence taken. I just posted based on my experience with my Panasonic Video. I wasn't talking about the RF on the DVD but on the Video.

Thanks for your help lads but as I said previously there are NO other connection points except one - for the aerial no red no white & no yellow connections anywhere else on the TV. As stated previously it is 17 years old.

Barry White I tried your set set up as stated and all I could get to appear on the TV screen was the video - no DVD picture I tried many combinations e.g. turning the VCR off but it didn't work.

Gumpy thanks for your offer of help but I have had enough of p-------g around and I am going to get a panasonic guy in later on in the week to set it up if possible. But I bet it cannot be done because the TV is too old and needs additional connectors on it to work. Btw, the DVD does have another set of input plugs at the front but that didn't work either:((. I don't know if the TV work with this TV and I not willing to try.

Thanks once again but I've had enough:2tsup:.

Cheers
David

It positive it will work. You need to connect the VCR to the input plugs on the front of the DVD, set the DVD to the AV number corresponding to the AV number of that front panel using the source button, put a cassette in the VCR, turn on the TV and providing it's tuned to the DVD recorder, you should see the picture being played by the VCR. then hit record.

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Originally Posted by Gumby

It positive it will work. You need to connect the VCR to the input plugs on the front of the DVD, set the DVD to the AV number corresponding to the AV number of that front panel using the source button, put a cassette in the VCR, turn on the TV and providing it's tuned to the DVD recorder, you should see the picture being played by the VCR. then hit record.

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I thought that is what he wanted to do was watch the videos as they were being recorded. He just isn't going to be able to watch his DVD's on that TV so he will have to invest in another TV to be able to do that.

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Originally Posted by Barry_White

I thought that is what he wanted to do was watch the videos as they were being recorded. He just isn't going to be able to watch his DVD's on that TV so he will have to invest in another TV to be able to do that.

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That's why I asked the question about whether he can see the DVD player picture without worrying about the VCR. It makes a difference if he can. If he can't then there's no point trying to copy the tapes.

Gumby I tried what you said but it didn't work so I went out this arvo and purchased myself an el cheapo TV with all the required connections. So in the coming days I will set it up as stated in the manual and hopefully get my tapes put on the discs as required.

Thanks once again.

cheers
David

No worries but it's bugging me now :rolleyes::)

make sure you let us know the result. :wink:

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Originally Posted by Gumby

No worries but it's bugging me now :rolleyes::)

make sure you let us know the result. :wink:

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Hi Gumby,

I will be trying (again) one night this week to sort out the wiring configuration with the new TV. If this doesn't I was going to get someone in from the trade to do it up for me. However, having talked to my new work colleagues this morning they said they both did it via the computer as suggested by Peter & Terry :wink:. They said the quality of the final product depends on how much you are prepared to pay fo the TV card. Given that I don't know anything about this subject matter I have a couple of questions to ask:-

Is the quality of the picture (and sound) better going through the TV rather than through a computer?.

Is it true the quality of the picture (and sound) depends on how much you spend on the TV card?

If using a computer is the way to go, which brands should I look for when choosing a TV card? I am prepared to spend some serious money on it if need be as I have a lot of family footage to be taped and there is a lot of sentimental value to them.

Thanks to those who reply.

Regards
David